Last Tuesday, the Savannah Book Festival released the headlining authors for its 2019 lineup. George Saunders, author of the 2017 Man Booker Prize winning novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” and his wife, Paula Saunders, who recently released her debut novel, “A Distance Home,” will give the opening address on Feb. 14.
Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic, who wrote the recent New York Times Bestseller, “Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Navel History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man,” will give the closing address on Feb. 17.
Both addresses will take place at the Lucas Theater, a new venue for the SBF headliners. Tickets are $20 and will go on sale Jan. 10. Negotiations for the Saturday Keynote author are still underway.
The SBF also announced the first five out of 45 authors to be featured during Festival Saturday, on Feb. 16. These authors will be giving talks throughout seven venues across town, each of which is free and open to the public.
Kim Bockius-Suwyn, executive director of the festival, told the Savannah Morning News on Tuesday that, “rather than flooding the market with all of these wonderful names, what we are going to do for the next nine weeks is send five names out every week.” These announcements, released every “Book It! Tuesday,” can be found on the festival’s social media and on their website.
The festival has a history of featuring a diverse group of books and authors. Bockius-Suwyn joked, “If you can’t find somebody you like, you must not be a book person!”
For more information on the festival and ways to volunteer, visit the SBF site, www.savannahbookfestival.org.
Elena Burnett is the Editor-in-Chief of District. She’s a writing major who will graduate in 2019.
